Meet Indian Ophthalmologist who won Royal College fellowship

Eminent Eye Specialist Dr Santosh G Honavar has been conferred with the very prestigious Honorary Fellowship by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, London, UK. Dr Honavar is the first Ophthalmologist from the Indian subcontinent to be recognized with the Honorary Fellowship, the highest award of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, which is bestowed upon individuals who have made outstanding contributions to Ophthalmology. 

Hyderabad based Dr Honavar is the Director of Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery and Ocular Oncology, Centre for Sight Eye Hospital. The Honorary fellowship is awarded to the most accomplished ophthalmologists in the World, and only 48 such awards have been made since inception, with a chartered limit of only 100 ever. 

In the citation by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, it was stated that “Dr Honavar is widely considered the father of ocular oncology of the Indian subcontinent and is credited with establishing adult and pediatric ocular oncology as dedicated subspecialties. His efforts have led to improved quality of care for countless eye cancer patients” and “It indeed is a great pleasure to see Dr Santosh G Honavar now become the first Ophthalmologist from the Indian sub-continent to be awarded the prestigious Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.”

Dr Honavar is a nationally and internationally acclaimed ophthalmologist, having been previously awarded the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award by the Government of India for his path-breaking research on the childhood eye cancer Retinoblastoma, Jerry Shields Award by the Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology, the Peter Rogers Oration by the Australian and New Zealand Society of Ophthalmic Plastic Surgeons, and more recently, the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, again, the first ever Indian ophthalmologist to have achieved this distinction.

Dr Honavar is also the Chief Editor of the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, which is a 69-year-old flagship monthly professional medical journal of the All-India Ophthalmological Society. The journal publishes articles on ophthalmology and vision science.  He is best known for his research on retinoblastoma, and this has made significant impact on the diagnosis, management, and outcomes in the Indian sub-continent. He has also successfully introduced other innovative treatment modalities such as brachytherapy for corneal and sclera invasion of ocular surface squamous neoplasia, multi-modal therapy for advanced orbital tumours including a protocol for the management of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland, which is now used across the world.